LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


Gl  FT    OF 


Class 


NAUGURATION  of  Ethelbert  D. 
Warfield,  A.  M.,  LL.  B.,  as  Presi- 
ent  of  Miami  University. 


AMI   UNIVERSITY. 


JUNE  2Oth,  1889. 


UfilVE^SITY. 


INAUGURATION 


ETHELBERT  DUDLEY  WARFIELD,  A.M.,  LLB., 


PRESIDENT 


MIAMI   UNIVERSITY. 


OXFORD,  OHIO, 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY. 
1889. 


PRINTED    AT   THE 

PRESS  OF  THE  NEWS, 
OXFORD,  OHIO. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


ETHELBERT  DUDLEY  WARFIEIVD,  Esq.,  was  elected 
President  of  Miami  University  at  the  regular  annual 
meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  on  the  2ist  day  of 
June,  1888,  by  a  unanimous  vote.  His  formal  inaugu- 
ration was  postponed  by  his  own  desire,  and  took  place 
at  the  close  of  his  first  year  of  incumbency,  on  Thurs- 
day, June  aoth,  1889,  the  annual  commencement  day. 
In  accordance  with  a  time  honored  custom,  observed 
from  the  inauguration  of  the  first  President  of  the  Uni- 
versity, the  exercises  took  place  in  the  open  air,  beneath 
the  oaks  and  beeches  of  the  grove  at  the  eastern  part  of 
the  campus,  it  being  impossible  to  accommodate  the 
large  audience  in  any  hall  of  the  University  or  the  town. 
The  order  of  exercises  was  as  follows  : 

INVOCATION,  by  the  REV.  JAMES  H.  BROOKES,  D.  D.,  Class  of 
1853,  of  St.  Louis, 

ADDRESS  ON  BEHALF  OF  THE  ALUMNI,  by  Hon.  CALVIN  S.  BRICE, 
Class  of  1863,  of  Lima,  President  of  the  Alumni  Asso- 
ciation. 

ADDRESS  ON  BEHALF  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES,  by  Hon.  JOHN 
W.  HERRON,  LL.  D.,  Class  of  1845,  of  Cincinnati,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  OATH  OF  OFFICE,  by  Hon.  JOSEPH  Cox> 
Class  of  1841,  of  Glendale,  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court 
of  Ohio. 

INAUGURAL  ADDRESS,  by  President  WARFIELD. 

BENEDICTION,  by  Rev.  W.  J.  MCSURELY,  D.  D.,  Class  of  1856, 
of  Hillsboro. 

The  address  of  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and 


Iv.  Prefatory  Note. 

the  Inaugural  Address,  are  here  published  by  order  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees.  It  was  also  intended  to  publish  the  address  of  the 
President  of  the  Alumni  Association,  and  the  appearance  of  this 
pamphlet  has  been  delayed  in  consequence  of  that  intention,  but 
Colonel  Brice,  whose  address  was  not  written  out  in  full,  has  been 
prevented  by  a  pressure  of  other  duties  from  preparing  his  ad- 
dress for  publication. 


ADDRESS 


ON  BEHALF  OK 


THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES. 


HON.  JOHN  W.  HERRON,  LL.  D.,  PRESIDENT. 


PRESIDENT  HERRON'S  ADDRESS. 


MY  FRIENDS  AND  FELLOW  CITIZENS  : 

It  is  now  a  little  more  than  sixty-four  years  since 
the  first  inauguration  of  a  President  of  The  Miami  Uni- 
versity took  place.  In  March,  1825,  Robert  H.  Bishop 
was  the  leading  and  conspicuous  actor  in  a  performance, 
having  in  view  the  same  object  as  that  which  engages 
us  to-day.  Then  was  seen  the  beginning  of  that  educa- 
tional life  to  which  we  are  attempting  to-day  to  add  new 
and  youthful  vigor.  How  different  the  scene  that  greet- 
ed the  eyes  of  those  who  witnessed  that  inauguration — 
how  few  of  those  who  witnessed  it  are  with  us  to-day. 

One  present  on  that  occasion  has  given  this  descrip- 
tion of  the  scene  : 

* '  There  was  a  great  crowd  at  the  inauguration  :  people 
coming  from  all  the  couutry  around  for  six  or  eight  miles.  The 
yard  was  full  of  men,  women  and  children.  It  was  a  beautiful 
day  in  early  spring.  There  was  a  procession  headed  by  a  band 
of  music, — a  big  drum  and  a  little  drum,  two  or  three  fifes,  a 
fiddle  or  two,  a  flageolet,  and  perhaps  a  brass  horn.  As  they 
passed  through  the  yard — among  the  stumps,  and  around  the  big 
building,  all  were  joyous  and  glad." 

Then  the  country  around  was  but  newly  opened  ; 
the  population  was  small  and  scattered ;  the  roads  were 
few  and  badly  improved  ;  the  lands  but  partially  culti- 
vated. It  was  new  country  still  inhabited  by  the  origi- 
nal settlers  who  had  wrested  it  from  the  wild  beasts,  and 
still  fiercer  Indian.  In  such  a  country,  amidst  such  a 
population,  was  planted  the  Institution  which  the  trus- 
tees represent  to-day.  It  was  something  new,  and  pre- 
sented wholly  different  interests  from  those  which  before 


8  President  Herron's  Address. 

that  had  occupied  the  thoughts  and  labors  of  the  people. 
No  wonder  that  on  that  bright  spring  morning  of  the 
30th  of  March,  1825,  there  assembled  on  these  same 
grounds  a  large  and  deeply  interested  pongregation — 
not  only  of  the  men,  women  and  children  of  the  village 
of  Oxford — then  numbering  in  all  but  a  few  hundred — 
but  of  the  farmers  who  had  leased  the  college  lands,  and 
made  there  a  home,  and  their  families ;  of  citizens  from 
the  adjoining  counties,  from  the  neighboring  cities,  and 
even  from  other  States  ;  coming  on  foot  and  on  horse- 
back, and  in  wagons  over  the  corduroy  roads  of  that  day; 
meeting  here  to  bid  Godspeed  to  the  Institution  of  learn- 
ing that  had  been  planted  through  the  bounty  of  the 
General  Government,  and  also  to  welcome,  encourage, 
and  cheer  on  that  great  and  good  man  who  had  accept- 
ed its  presidency  ; — who  had  left  another  institution  al- 
ready in  full  operation,  and  risked  all  upon  his  success 
here.  Can  any  of  you  picture  in  your  mind  that  assem- 
bly and  that  scene  ?  The  buildings  which  are  before 
us  :  the  grounds  that  are  about  us — the  views  now  with- 
in the  glance  of  our  eyes  are  the  same  as  those  looked 
upon  then — but  yet  how  different  is  their  coloring  and 
beauty.  The  very  campus  in  which  we  meet  represents 
in  its  improvement  that  of  the  country  at  large.  What 
was  then  a  bare  piece  of  land  is  now  covered  by  verdure 
and  trees.  The  village  has  grown  from  its  few  inexpen- 
sive frame  buildings,  to  the  beautiful  town  of  which  we 
are  all  proud.  The  land  has  become  a  cultivated  garden  ; 
the  country  has  leaped  forward  in  great  strides  of  pro- 
gress. It  would  be  vain  for  me  to  attempt  to  describe 
that  progress.  I  only  refer  to  it  to  ask  how  much  of  it 
may  be  attributed  to  the  work  begun  on  that  March 
morning.  The  school  then  started  into  life  has  been  an 
unceasing  source  of  education,  morality  and  religion 
throughout  this  entire  region  of  country.  Its  influence 


President  Herrorts  Address.  9 

has-been  felt  not  only  in  this  immediate  vicinity,  but  in 
every  part  of  our  country,  and  is  still  working  silently, 
but  more  and  more  widely. 

Robert  !}.  Bishop,  who  was  then  inaugurated,  was 
a  model  President.  Honest  and  sound  in  his  doctrinal 
teaching:  learned  and  able  in  his  instruction  both  in  the 
classroom  and  pulpit  :  wise  and  loving  in  his  govern- 
ment and  dicipline,  he  made  the  institution  a  success 
from  the  beginning.  No  greater  evidence  can  I  give  of 
his  far-seeing  intelligence,  than  the  following  words 
from  the  inaugural  address  delivered  on  that  occasion  : 

"We  are  a  part  of  this  mighty  nation.  This  institution 
which  we  are  now  organizing  is  one  of  the  outposts  of  her  ex- 
tended and  extending  possessions.  Only  a  generation  hence, 
and  what  is  now  an  outpost  will  be  the  center.  *  *  *  Other 
sixty  years  hence,  and  the  population  will,  in  all  probability,  be 
extended  to  the  Pacific  Ocean." 

He  loved  and  watched  over  the  students,  and  in  re- 
turn had  their  love  and  respect.  He  labored  constantly 
for  the  good  of  the  college  and  of  the  community,  and 
in  return  he  had  ever  the  confidence  and  affection  of  all 
who  had  the  interests  of  this  institution  at  heart.  He 
always  advocated,  and  illustrated  by  his  life,  the  cause 
of  education,  morality  and  religion,  and  his  name  and 
character  became  known  and  revered  everywhere.  Such 
was  the  commencement  of  The  Miami  University ;  and 
the  character  of  the  first  Presidency  in  its  history. 

Following  in  order  came  the  names  of  Junkin  ;  of 
McMaster ;  of  Anderson  ;  of  Hall  ;  and  of  Stanton  :  all 
men  of  eminent  learning,  of  high  character,  and  suc- 
cessful as  teachers.  They  have  all  gone  to  their  reward. 
Only  Hepburn  and  McFarland,  of  those  who  have 
served  as  Presidents,  remain.  The  others  have  left 
each  his  personal  character  impressed  on  the  history  of 
our  University.  They  still  live  in  the  grateful  remem- 
brance of  many  who  experienced  and  were  benefitted  by 


io  President  Herr oil's  Address. 

their  influence  while  here.  Of  the  living,  the  proper 
time  has  not  yet  come  to  speak. 

In  these  sixty-five  years  of  College  'History  we  have 
met  the  usual  fate  of  such  institutions.  Success  and 
reverses  ;  sunshine  and  clouds  ;  fair  sailing  and  storms 
have  alternated  from  time  to  time  ;  yet  in  all  of  them  a 
great  and  good  work  has  been  done — a  work  felt  in  all 
the  departments  of  our  country,  a  work  of  which  none 
of  us  have  reason  to  be  ashamed. 

And  now  we  come  to-day  to  inaugurate  another  Presi- 
dent :  on  the  one  hand,  to  place  upon  him  the  cares  and 
responsibilities  of  this  great  work,  and,  on  the  other, 
to  encourage  and  aid  him  in  its  accomplishment. 

On  the  2ist  day  of  June,  1888,  the  Trustees,  by  a 
unanimous  vote,  elected  Bthelbert  Dudley  Warfield, 
then  of  Lexington,  Kentucky,  President  of  Miami  Uni- 
versity. In  advising  him  of  this  election,  the  Trustees 
conveyed  to  him  the  assurance  of  their  fixed  determina- 
tion— every  one  of  them,  and  in  every  possible  manner — 
to  give  him  their  support :  their  assistance  :  their  con- 
fidence. Without  such  assurance  honestly,  cordially, 
and  constantly  exhibited,  they  knew  success  would 
be  impossible.  They  saw  that  the  work  before  him 
would  be  arduous  and  trying  ;  that  difficulties,  under 
the  most  favorable  circumstances,  would  be  constantly 
arising,  and  that  any  want  of  harmony  among  those  in 
authority  would  be  disastrous  in  the  extreme ;  and  they 
resolved  that  they  would  neither  originate  or  encourage 
dissensions  or  bickerings. 

They  promised,  further,  not  only  their  own  co-oper- 
ation, but  that  of  the  community  in  which  we  are  placed, 
and  of  the  friends  of  the  University  wherever  they  maybe. 
For  their  own  co-operation  the  Trustees  are  responsible, 
and  they  have  in  their  own  hands  the  power  to  execute 
it.  But  the  other  assurance  is  still  more  important  and 


President  Herrorfs  Address.  n 


essential  to  the  prosperity  of  the  University  —  and  for 
this  we  can  only  appeal  to  the  intelligence  and  good 
will  of  those  for  whom  the  assurance  was  given.  I  de- 
sire, therefore,  to-day,  to  impress  upon  every  one  who 
hears  me,  the  duty  of  each  in  this  regard  ;  and  to  ask 
that  for  themselves  they  will  resolve  to  give  this  sup- 
port and  encouragement  to  the  new  faculty  of  the  Uni- 
versity, and  that  they  will,  in  every  possible  way,  im- 
press upon  others  who  are  not  here,  who  are  friends 
either  of  this  particular  institution,  or  of  higher  educa- 
tion generally,  the  importance  of  a  like  encouragement 
from  them. 

To  you,  the  people  of  Oxford,  this  is  especially 
important.  In  a  material  point  of  view,  your  pros- 
perity and  that  of  the  University  are  closely  allied. 
Its  prosperity  brings  life  to  you  :  its  failure  will  cast  its 
shadow  upon  you.  The  closing  of  the  University  was 
felt  in  all  the  business  interests  of  your  village.  The 
days  when  full  classes,  and  happy  students,  and  satis- 
fied teachers  were  to  be  seen  in  your  midst,  were  days 
now  remembered  as  red  letter  days  in  your  history. 
How  much  greater  prosperity  may  you  reasonably  ex- 
pect when  a  far  greater  success  than  any  in  the  past 
will  add  to  the  business  and  growth  of  your  village. 
And  this  growing  prosperity,  you  have  every  reason  to 
expect.  The  increase  of  population  :  the  diffusion  of 
wealth  :  the  advance  and  spread  of  a  desire  for  a  higher 
education,  have  added  immensely  to  the  number  of 
those  who  expect  to  enter  our  colleges.  All  successful 
institutions  of  to-day  have  quadrupled  the  number  of 
their  students  over  that  of  twenty-five  years  ago.  We, 
too,  should  exhibit  the  same  increase,  and  in  like  pro- 
portion add  to  the  material  benefits  conferred  by  the 
University  on  you. 

But  there  is  a  higher  benefit  to  be  expected  than 


12  President  Herrorfs  Address. 

mere  material  gain.  The  cause  of  education,  morality, 
and  religion  as  taught  in  this  institution,  exerts  a  high- 
er influence,  and  brings  a  more  desirable  improvement 
than  the  mere  increase  of  population,  or  of  wealth.  It 
permeates  every  household,  however  humble  ;  it  affects 
the  happiness  and  character  of  every  individual ;  it  ele- 
vates the  standing  of  every  community  in  which  it 
flourishes.  Every  family  circle  will  be  the  better  for 
such  an  institution  ;  every  church  will  experience  from 
it  improvement  and  spiritual  growth,  and  thereby  be  the 
better  able  to  exert  more  extended  influence.  Your  com- 
mon schools  will  be  elevated  in  aim  and  character:  your 
social  life  become  more  intellectual  and  devoted  to 
moral  and  religious  improvement:  new  interests  will  be 
inaugurated  and  encouraged  :  new  tastes  will  be  culti- 
vated :  and  in  every  way  a  higher  and  better  life  entered 
iipon.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  enumerate,  nor  is  it 
necessary  that  I  should  do  so  to  this  intelligent  audience, 
the  benefits  which  may  be  expected  from  a  successful 
university  in  your  midst. 

With  these  prospects  and  the  inestimable  benefits 
to  be  obtained,  am  I  asking  of  you  too  much  when  I  de- 
mand of  each  one  of  you  to  assist  us  in  the  work  before 
us.  I  am  afraid  that  you  have  not  always  done  so  in  the 
past.  The  history  of  Miami  University  has  been  full  of 
local  bickerings  and  fault  findings,  seriously  crippling  its 
prosperity  and  usefulness.  It  is  very  easy  to  criticise, 
and  find  fault  with  what  is  being  done.  There  are  al- 
ways some  who  mainly  exercise  their  intellects  in  seek- 
ing out  defects  in  those  who  govern.  Each  case  of  disci- 
pline is  magnified  into  one  of  gross  injustice  :  each  es- 
capade of  a  student  is  heralded  as  evidence  of  demorali- 
zation in  the  University.  Disputes  are  transformed  into 
quarrels  ;  justice  into  brutality ;  while  mercy  is  the  lack 
of  all  discipline. 


President  Herrorfs  Address.  13 

Strangers  visiting  here,  have  frequently  heard  of 
nothing  but  mistakes,  or  immoralities  which  rumor,  or 
the    imagination  of  talebearers,  have  brought  to  your 
ears.     They  leave  with  the  impression  that  it  would  be 
entirely  unsafe  to  send  their  children  here,  or  to  recom- 
mend it  to  others.     You  speak  of  the  character  and  suc- 
cess which  prevailed  here  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  : 
and  of  the  talents  and  high  scholarly  attainments  which 
marked  the  students  of  that  time.      But  you  are  silent 
as  to  the  labors  and  patient  industry  and  hard  study  of 
to-day.     You  do  not  attempt  to  discover  the  brilliant  in- 
tellects which  exist  here  now  just  as  surely  as  they  did 
then.     Did  you  take  the  trouble  to  investigate  and  trace 
to  their  source  the  rumors  that  fill  the  air  :    did  you  as- 
certain by  personal  experience  the  amount  of  work,  and 
the  character  of  the  instruction  given  here  :  "  the  pre- 
cept upon  precept,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little"  as 
practiced  to-day  :  you  might  be  able  to  tell  a  different 
tale,  and  to  make  friends  of  the  institution  where  now 
you  spread  abroad  a  bad  name  or  inspire  distrust.     I 
have  no  doubt  that  the  citizens  of  Oxford  alone  by  prop- 
erly appreciating  the  value  and  character  of  this  insti- 
tution, and  by  making  known  that  appreciation  wherever 
possible,  could  double  the  number  of  our  students.    By 
all  the  motives  which  I  have  named ;  by  the  desire  to 
improve  the  material  prosperity  of  your  village :  by  the 
desire  to  add  to  the  moral,  religious,  and  intellectual  ad- 
vantages surrounding  you,  I  call  upon  you  all  to  aid,  en- 
courage and  support  the  President  whom  we  propose 
this  day  to  inaugurate.    Lay  aside  all  personal  preferen- 
ces and  prejudices  :  listen  not  to  idle  rumor — ascertain 
for  yourself  the  modes,  quality,  and  amount  of  instruc- 
tion as  given  in  the  class-room  :  ascertain  the  truth   of 
rumors  before  repeating  them  :  seek  information  where 
it  can  be  reliably  obtained  :  and  then  use  your  informa- 


14  President  Herrorfs  Address.. 

tion  and  knowledge  to  assist,  and  not  to  discourage,  the 
authorities.  I  do  not  ask  that  any  immoralities  shall  be 
overlooked,  or  that  failures  shall  be  disregarded.  But  I 
do  ask  that  immoralities  and  failures  shall  not  be  created 
by  mere  rumor,  or  exaggerated  by  imagination,  or7 
worse  still,  by  prejudice  or  vindictiveness.  Seek  out  the 
good  as  well  as  the  evil,  and  give  to  us  that  help  and 
sympathy  which  are  essential  to  success. 

But  our  appeal  for  sympathy  and  co-operation  is  not 
confined  to  the  citizens  of  Oxford.  I  desire  to  extend 
it  to  all  who  feel  an  interest  in  the  cause  of  University 
education.  I  appeal  to  the  graduates  and  former  stu- 
dents of  the  University.  The  love  which  they  bear  to 
the  name  and  history  of  Miami  University  always  causes 
their  eyes  to  turn  toward  her  on  Commencement  Day- 
This  affection  should  not  be  confined  to  visits,  and 
dreams  of  the  past.  A  more  active  display  of  this  affec- 
tion is  required.  You  have  the  power  to  help,  and  now 
we  ask  you  to  give  that  help.  We  are  not  asking  for 
your  money ,  but  for  such  sympathy  and  encouragement 
as  you  are  able  to  give  in  your  daily  intercourse  with 
people; — a  kind  word — a  show  of  confidence — a  prayer 
for  success. 

We  appeal  also  to  the  friends  of  education,  whether 
they  have  ever  been  students  here,  or  not.  Education 
has  no  mere  local  abode.  It  produces  a  universal  brother- 
hood. I  know  that  it  has  been  frequently  said  that 
we  have  too  many  colleges  in  Ohio,  that  the  many 
should  be  consolidated  so  as  to  give  us  one  magnificent 
University,  able  to  compete  with  those  of  the  Eastern 
States.  This  is  the  day  of  large  ideas,  and  great  enter- 
prises :  a  day  of  trusts  and  of  consolidations,  and  of 
co-operative  associations  in  every  branch  of  industry. 
But  I  desire  to  say  a  few  words  to-day  in  favor  of  col. 
leges  such  as  the  one  which  we  have  organized  here.  It 


President  Herrorfs  Address.  15 

is  undoubtedly  necessary  that  there  should  be  large 
Universities — with  magnificent  endowments,  and  able 
to  thoroughly  prepare  students  in  all  the  Specialties  of 
Modern  Education.  But  such  Universities  do  not  meet 
all  the  demands  of  the  present  day.  We  do  not  all  send 
our  children  to  one  school  where  by  organization  and 
distribution  of  work  they  may  be  more  economically 
and  systematically  educated.  We  still  have  home  schools 
iu  which  the  smallest  and  feeblest  child  may  be  educat- 
ed by  individual  attention.  We  do  not  wish  to  lose  the 
identity  of  each  child  in  the  great  mass  of  childhood  in 
the  community.  Mass  education  may  give  a  higher 
average  result — but  it  levels  the  entire  body — it  lowers 
some  as  surely  as  it  elevates  others.  With  the  great 
body  of  children  in  our  country,  such  a  course  is  the 
only  practicable  one.  But  at  the  same  time  it  produces 
a  similar  result  as  that  from  the  use  of  machinery  :  the 
product  is  all  of  equal  strength  and  finish  :  no  portion 
excels  that  of  any  other  portion.  So  it  is  with  Univer- 
sity education  :  consolidation  may  not  always  be  bene- 
ficial. Better  attention  to  studies — more  careful  atten- 
tion to  the  individual  student — a  better  discipline — 
more  watchfulness,  and  less  inattention,  may  be  the  re- 
sult of  the  education  in  our  smaller  colleges.  All  of  our 
young  men  cannot  attend  the  great  Universities.  It  is 
only  when  such  an  education  is  brought  near  to  their 
homes,  or  within  their  narrow  means,  that  many  are 
able  to  acquire  it.  The  larger  number  of  young  men 
who  desire  a  collegiate  education,  and  whose  abilities, 
through  it,  would  accomplish  success,  would  be  wholly 
deprived  of  its  advantages  if  they  could  not  obtain  it 
through  such  institutions.  With  all  the  advantages  of 
the  large  Universities  over  the  smaller  colleges,  the  ma- 
jority of  those  who  receive  a  collegiate  education  obtain 
it  in  the  latter.  It  is  necessarily  so  ;  and  if  such  young 


1 6  President  Herrorfs  Address:. 

men  did  not  obtain  their  education  in  this  way,  they 
would  be  deprived  of  it  altogether.  The  character  of 
the  education  obtained,,  may  not  be  as  thorough  and  ex- 
tensive in  many  respects  as  that  of  others  more  favored 
in  fortune,  but  in  many  respects  it  is  better  adapted  to 
the  object  for  which  it  should  be  sought.  However 
thorough  may  be  the  University  course,,  it  but  touches 
the  almost  illimitable  space  over  which  knowledge  ex- 
tends. When  the  student  of  three  score  and  ten  looks 
back  and  reviews  the  history  of  his  education,  how  in- 
significant that  portion  acquired  in  the  University  must 
appear.  How  little  the  brightest  of  our  students  has 
made  his  own  on  his  graduating  day.  Education  is  at- 
tained after,  not  before,  graduation.  It  is  a  trite  saying 
- — scarcely  worth  repeating — that  education  in  the  schools 
is  not  to  be  valued  by  the  amount  of  knowledge  acquir- 
ed, but  by  the  habits  there  formed,  to  be  used  in  after 
life.  These  habits  and  these  powers  may  be  as 
thoroughly  brought  into  action  and  cultivated  in  such 
colleges  as  Miami  University,  as  in  the  most  thoroughly 
equipped  University  in  the  land.  The  careful,  conscien- 
tious, untiring  instruction  of  able  teachers,  the  society 
of  a  few  equally  devoted  to  mental  improvement,  the 
Opportunity  for  studying  and  practicing  the  true  princi- 
ples of  acquiring  knowledge,  are  not  wanting  here. 
And  that  young  man  who  desires  and  is  determined  to 
reach  a  high  standard  of  scholarship,  and  to  obtain  the 
full  developement  of  his  mental  and  moral  faculties, 
need  not  fear  to  seek  it  here.  Such  is  not  only  what 
may  be,  but  it  is  what  has  been.  We  are  not  ashamed 
of  the  history  of  the  past  sixty-five  years.  We  can 
point  to  our  students  in  proof  of  our  success.  To  recall 
the  names  of  those  who  have  attained  eminence  in  our 
country,  would  be  an  injustice  to  the  many  who  would 
necessarily  be  omitted. 


President  If  err 01?$  Address.  17 

In  all  the  walks  of  life,  whether  as  statesmen  in  the 
government  of  our  Country  ;  as  soldiers  upon  the  field 
of  battle  ;  as  law  makers,  or  those  who  administer  the 
laws;  as  ministers  of  the  Gospel  at  home,  or  as  mission- 
aries preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen  in  all  parts  of 
the  world  ;  in  the  paths  of  literature  and  of  science;  in 
the  marts  of  commerce  ;  in  industrial  pursuits  ;  and  upon 
the  farm,  cultivating  the  earth  ; — everywhere  they  have 
illustrated  the  power  and  success  of  education  as  it  has 
been  furnished  in  these  halls,  and  of  the  faithfulness  of 
the  teachers  who  have  labored  in  this  University.  And 
what  has  been  in  the  past,  may  be  expected  to  be  in  the 
future.  In  the  future  as  in  the  past,  the  young  men 
who  enter  here  may  accomplish  all  that  they  resolve  to 
do.  If  they  desire  to  attain  eminence  in  scholarship^ 
and  determine  to  succeed,  and  show  their  faith  by  their 
works — failure  will  be  impossible. 

With  these  considerations  of  the  uses  and  adapta- 
bility of  this  institution  to  the  necessities  and  demands 
of  collegiate  education,  may  I  not  ask  every  one  who  is 
interested  in  the  cause  of  education  to  aid  and  encour- 
age the  President  now  to  be  inaugurated.  No  greater 
benefit  can  be  conferred  on  the  community  than  to 
make  this  University  occupy  the  position  which  it  once 
did — to  make  its  reputation  as  extensive,  and  its  useful- 
ness as  widespread.  Neither  poverty,  nor  condition  in 
life,  should  discourage  any ;  only  determination,  strong 
desire,  and  industry  are  required.  And  success  here 
will  surely  meet  success  in  the  world — not  merely  suc- 
cess in  acquiring  knowledge,  but  success  in  building  up 
a  high  and  noble  character,  and  strong  and  manly  habits. 

And  now,  President  Warfield,  it  becomes  my  duty 
to  perform  the  final  act  in  your  formal  installation 
as  President  of  Miami  University.  The  Board  of  Trus- 


1 8  President  Herrorfs  Address.. 

tees  having  unanimously  elected  you  President,,  have 
given  to  me  the  pleasant  task  of  presenting  to  you  the 
insignia  of  that  office,  and  to  present  you  as  such  to  this 
large  and  interested  audience.  They  have  further  di- 
rected me  to  deliver  to  you  the  formal  charge  customary 
on  such  occasions.  It  would  be  idle  for  me  seriously  to 
attempt  to  perform  this  duty.  The  field  which  it  would 
open  before  us,  is  top  broad  and  diversified  for  me 
to  enter  at  this  time  ;  and  its  magnitude  and  importance, 
far  beyond  my  powers  of  discussion.  It  is  exhibited  in 
the  entire  history  of  our  institution.  The  ordinance  of 
1787  stated  as  a  vital  principle  of  good  government, 
that,  "Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge  being  essenti- 
ally necessary  to  the  ends  for  which  States  are  estab- 
lished, schools  and  means  of  education  shall  foreyer  be 
encouraged."  Immediately  after  the  passage  of  that 
ordinance  was  the  sale  of  land  to  John  Cleves  Symmes, 
in  which  was  the  reservation  of  the  township  which  sub- 
sequently became  the  endowment  of  Miami  University. 
"Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge,"  are,  therefore,  de- 
clared to  be  the  objects  of  the  endowment,  and  any  fail- 
ure on  our  part  to  recognize  the  claim  of  either  of  these 
objects,  would  be  to  repudiate  the  purpose  for  which  it 
was  given.  In  the  act  incorporating  Miami  University, 
by  which  this  endowment  was  accepted  and  utilized,  it 
is  declared  that  the  purpose  of  the  institution,  thus  cre- 
ated, "  is  the  instruction  of  youth  in  all  the  branches  of 
the  liberal  sciences  and  arts,  the  promotion  of  good  edu- 
cation, and  of  virtue,  religion,  and  morality.  "  In  these 
words  we  have  the  leading  objects  for  which  this  Uni- 
versity was  organized,  and  on  this  day  we  commit  to  your 
care  the  maintainance  and  promotion  of  each  of  them  . 
They  must  always,  and  without  distinction,  be  kept  in 
view  as  the  cardinal  principles  of  your  action. 

Knowledge  is  named  first  for  it  is  the  ordinar  ly  ac- 


President  Herrorts  Address.  19 

cepted  subject  of  collegiate  education.      The  result,  as 
to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  will  always  be  regarded 
as  the  main  test  of  success  or  failure.      While  it  is  un- 
doubtedly not  the  most  important,   it  is  still  the  one 
chiefly  and  primarily  considered  by  the  public.     Miami 
University  has  always  endeavored  to  meet  this  expecta- 
tion by  being  thorough  in   its  course  of  study.     It  has 
aimed  to  do  all  that  is  necessary  to  prepare  young  men 
for  usefulness  in  active  life,  and  to  equip  them  with 
habits  of  study  and  of  industry,  to  enable  them  to  suc- 
ceed in  the  contests  into  which  they  must  necessarily 
enter.     We  ask  of  you  Mr.  President  not  only  to  sustain, 
but  to  advance  these  aims  still  higher.      It  should  not 
satisfy  us  to  live  wholly  in  past  success.    The  examples 
of  those  who  have  gone  out  from  these  halls  have  shed 
bright  lustre  upon  the  character  of  the  institution.    We 
are  always  proud  to  repeat  their  names,  and  recount 
their  deeds.      But  we  must  not  rest  there.     We  should 
not  be  satisfied  with  what  others  have  done  in  the  past. 
In  business,    men  are  not  accustomed  to  stop  at  the  in- 
ventions in  the    arts  and  sciences  which  their  prede- 
cessors have   made.     The  discoveries   of  to-day  have 
wholly  eclipsed  those  of  former  years,  and  the  latter  are 
now  merely  regarded  as   mile  stones  in  the  highway  of 
improvement,  and  not  as  the  goal  for  which  we  are  to 
strive.      He   who  should  determine  to  use  no  different 
machinery  from  that  which  his  father  employed,  would 
soon  be  left  behind  by  others,  and  his  business  be  a  fail- 
ure.    So  it    should  be  in    the    University.     While  we 
should  be  proud  of  those  classes  who  have  furnished 
useful  and  distinguished  men  to  the  country,  and  honor 
and  celebrate  the  virtues  of  those  of  our  graduates  who 
have  achieved  distinction   in  the   pursuits  of  life,   we 
should  only  use    their   success    as  stimulants   to    still 
higher  attainments — to  encourage  us  to  send  forth  still 


20  President  Herrorfs  Address. 

more  useful  and  distinguished  men  in  the  future.  Our 
object  should  be  to  make  this  administration  the  one  to 
which  the  next  will  point  as  the  brightest  in  our  his- 
tory :  that  through  its  labors  and  instruction  young 
men  may  be  sent  out  who  shall  establish  the  character 
and  reputation  of  this  University.  This  work  again  the 
Trustees  place  in  your  hands.  This  history  of  our  past 
successes  we  deliver  to  you,  but  only  in  the  hope  and 
strong  assurance  that  you  will  far  excel  it,  and  that  your 
administration  may  furnish  many  subjects  for  praise  and 
congratulation  in  future  occasions  like  the  present. 

But  knowledge  is  not  alone  to  be  considered.  Vir- 
tue, morality,  and  religion  are  declared  to  be  the  objects 
of  the  bounty  of  Government.  Nor  are  these  merely 
secondary  in  importance.  Without  them,  knowledge 
becomes  aimless,  or  useless,  or  dangerous.  While  they 
are  thus  as  important  to  the  student,  and  essential  to 
the  proper  development  of  character,  they  are  more  dif- 
ficult to  inculcate  successfully.  The  first  President  of 
this  institution  declared  that  "the  leading  principle  of 
the  government  of  Miami  University  is  parental,  and 
every  parent  knows  something  of  the  difficulties  of 
family  government."  And  if  difficult  to  the  parent,  how 
immeasurably  more  so  must  it  be  to  the  President  and 
Faculty  of  a  University.  The  large  number  of  young 
men  in  attendance  ;  coining  from  different  homes  ;  with 
different  tastes  and  dispositions;  accustomed  to  different 
modes  of  government  in  their  previous  experience  :  of 
all  ages  and  conditions  in  life  ;  with  their  characters 
still  unformed,  and  now  thrown  together  in  a  small  com- 
munity;— must  constitute  a  heterogeneous  mass,  the 
control  and  government  of  which  must  entail  great  dif- 
ficulties on  the  college  authorities.  And  yet  the  moral 
and  religious  training  of  these  young  men,  while  under 
your  control,  is  vastly  more  important  to  their  success 


President  Herrorfs  Address.  21 

in  life,  than  any  mere  educational  instruction.  The  du- 
ties which  you  owe  to  the  parents  and  guardians  who 
entrust  their  sons  and  wards  to  your  care  :  the  duties 
which  you  owe  to  the  young  men  whose  years  and  inex- 
perience render  them  so  susceptible  to  evil  influence  and 
vicious  indulgences  :  the  duties  which  you  owe  to  the 
country  which  needs  for  its  growth  and  improvement 
the  best  talent  of  our  youth,  and  the  wisest  care  and 
training  of  that  talent  ;  render  the  responsibility  rest- 
ing upon  you  and  us  almost  startling.  The  terrible  fail- 
ures which  are  constantly  occurring  in  college  lives  :  the 
young  men  who  have  left  home  for  the  University  with 
bright  hopes  and  characters  still  unsullied,  and  have 
made  shipwrecks  of  their  lives,  and  brought  misery  to 
homes  and  parents,  warn  us  of  the  dangers  of  college 
life,  and  heighten  the  importance  of  the  instruction  and 
government  which  shall  be  found  here.  Truly  this  gov- 
ernment should  be  parental — marked  by  all  the  affection, 
— solicitude, — firmness, — patience, — and  watchfulness 
that  the  wisest  of  parents  could  exercise.  With  such  a 
government,  parents  may  confidingly  entrust  their  sons 
to  your  care.  It  seems  almost  vain  to  expect  such  gov- 
ernment from  human  instruments. 

In  the  charge  to  Dr.  Bishop  at  the  first  inaugura- 
tion I  find  the  following  language : 

"  But  the  governing  of  such  an  institution  is  as  difficult  and 
important  as  the  task  of  giving  instruction;  and  the  latter  can 
not  well  succeed  without  the  former.  To  combine  the  dignity 
and  authority  of  the  President  with  the  affection  of  a  parent ;  the 
impartiality  and  inflexibility  of  the  judge  with  a  sympathising 
compassion  for  the  victims  of  youthful  folly;  an  undeviating  ad- 
herence to  wholesome  laws  and  regulations  with  a  discriminating 
discernment  of  the  various  shades  of  defalcation  and  crime  ;  to 
guide  with  firm,  steady  rein,  yet  with  such  discretion  as  never  to 
break  the  cords  with  a  rash  or  tyrannical  touch,  requires  such  an 
assemblage  of  qualities,  such  a  natural  talent  for  governing,  such 
knowledge  of  mankind,  such  insight  into  the  springs  of  human 


22  President  Herr oil's  Address. 

actions,  such  self  possession,  command  of  temper  and  patience, 
as  fall  to  the  lot  of  but  few  of  the  children  of  men." 

We  can  only  look  for  it  in  the  assistance  which  God 
is  able  an£  willing  to  give.  Relying  upon  his  promises, 
and  praying  for  his  guidance,  and  governing  our  acts  by 
his  counsels,  we  may  hope  to  accomplish  the  purposes  of 
our  organization.  His  word  alone  points  out  the  true 
path  of  success,  and  in  him  we  have  assurance  and  faith. 
Recognizing  these  responsibilities  imposed  upon  you, — 
knowing  the  expectations  of  those  who  are  our  friends 
and  patrons,  and  remembering  the  objects  of  the  bounty 
by  which  we  are  supported,  and  the  benefits  to  our 
Country  that  should  be  realized  from  it, — and  entrusting 
the  entire  responsibility  to  you,  it  would  be  cowardly 
and  dishonest  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  did  they  not  at 
the  same  time  promise  you  every  aid  and  encouragement 
in  their  power :  to  hold  up  your  hands  and  sustain  your 
arms  in  the  labors  of  your  position  :  to  counsel  and  ad- 
vise you  faithfully,  whenever  you  may  desire  it :  to  ex- 
ercise patience  in  the  diffiulties  to  be  surmounted,  and 
to  look  for  the  success  which  we  feel  confident  will  result 
from  your  work.  We  bid  you  now  God  speed  :  we  rec- 
ommend you  and  your  brothers  of  the  faculty  to  all :  we 
have  all  faith  and  confidence  in  your  willingness  and 
ability  to  crown  your  administration  with  success,  and 
to  add  to  the  prosperity  and  reputation  of  Miami  Uni- 
versity. In  the  name,  therefore,  and  by  the  authority 
of  the  Trustees  of  the  Miami  University,  I  deliver  to 
you  the  Charter  and  Keys  of  that  Institution,  as  the 
symbol  of  the  authority  of  your  office,  and  as  evidence 
of  your  complete  installation  as  its  President. 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


TH1-LBKRT  DUDLEY  WARFIELD,  A.  M.,  II.  B. 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  BOARD  OF 
TRUSTEES : 

I  am  here  to-day  by  your  invitation  to  take  formally 
upon  myself  what  I  esteem  a  great  trust.  Your  invita- 
tion came  to  me  unsought.  I  heard  it  with  misgiving. 
I  have  responded  to  it  only  because  I  believed  it  to  be  a 
call  to  a  great  and  noble  work,  worthy  of  a  man's  most 
faithful  service.  How  deep  my  conviction  of  this  is, 
and  the  earnestness  of  my  purpose  in  accepting  the  po- 
sition to  which  you  have  called  me,  I  shall  leave  the  fu- 
ture to  illustrate.  For  the  present  all  personal  consid- 
erations must  be  lost  sight  of  in  our  interest  in  the  wel- 
fare of  this  institution.  I  therefore  invite  you  to  join 
me  in  a  brief  consideration  of  the  nature  and  function 
of  the  University,  after  which  I  shall  endeavor  to  indi- 
cate in  a  few  words  what  I  consider  to  be  the  true  rela- 
tion of  this  institution  to  the  great  world  of  letters,  and 
the  particular  task  which  devolves  upon  us  as  its  officers. 
For  us  the  progress  of  learning  should  be  an  open  book,' 
known  and  read.  We  are  not  the  sons  of  any  one  estab- 
lishment, but  of  many.  We  have  brought  hither  tender 
love  and  reverence  each  for  his  own  Alma  Mater.  We 
do  not  forget,  we  rather  seek  to  honor,  them  by  service 
in  another  school.  The  treasures  which  they  have  im- 
parted to  us  we  have  brought  hither  and  our  one  con- 


26  Inaugural  Address. 

sideration  is  how  best  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  the  ser- 
vice of  Miami  University. 

The  term  University  is  one  of  those  concerning 
which  it  is  dangerous  to  dogmatise.  The  original  and 
secondary  meanings  of  the  word  are  so  different,  and 
the  growth  of  that  particular  institution  which,  out  of 
the  many  to  which  it  once  equally  belonged,  has  en- 
grossed to  itself  the  name  University,  has  been  so  slow 
and  yet  so  great  ;  the  foreign  elements  which  it  has 
drawn  to  itself  have  been  so  many  and  in  different  lands 
and  different  ages  so  various,  even  so  oppugnant  ;  that 
the  most  impartial  student,  when  he  seeks  to  explain 
the  term,  finds  the  problem  highly  complex.  If  it  were 
possible,  however,  to  enter  this  field  as  a  first  explorer 
it  might  not  be  too  much  to  hope  that  with  the  aid  of 
subtle  analysis  and  cautious  generalization  a  conclusion 
might  be  reached  which  would  commend  itself  to  all. 
But  unhappily  the  field  has  been  pre-empted  by  doctrin- 
aires. Nearly  every  peculiar  developement  of  the  Uni- 
versity idea  has  some  doughty  champion  who  claims  for 
his  Alma  Mater  the  only  true  descent,  who  maintains 
that  she  has  not  changed  but  merely  developed,  that  she 
represents  the  perfect  type  pre-figured  in  the  germ  and 
unmarred  by  grafts  ;  that  her  fabric  alone  exhibits  but 
a  just  expansion  of  the  essence  which  the  original  Uni- 
versitas  contained — in  potential  indeed,  but  still  con- 
tained,— ready  to  be  evolved  by  the  fruitful  soil  and  ge- 
nial clime  which  had  only  been  found  on  her  beautiful 
hill  and  beside  the  flashing  waters  which  mirror  the 
towers  of  her  ancient  halls.  Not  only  is  this  so,  but 
the  man  of  science  brings  the  inductive  method  to  bear 
upon  the  problem,  classifies,  arranges  and  produces  a  re- 
sult which  he  fondly  fancies  has  upon  it  the  indicia  of 
absolute  truth ;  the  philosopher  inquires  into  the  essence 


Inaugural  Address*  27 

and  differentia,  on  seemingly  immutable  grounds  deter- 
mines what  the  concept  connotes  and  denotes,  rises  by 
all  the  steps  which  an  hundred  generations  have  acqui- 
esced in  as  the  instruments  of  irrefragable  logic  and 
offers  a  conclusion  not  less  confidently  believed  to  rep- 
resent the  ultimate  truth  ;  then  comes  the  historian, — 
he  cares  little  for  the  things  that  do  exist  in  the  Univer- 
sity, he  cares  less  for  the  things  that  must  exist  therein, 
he  rather  asks  whence  came  this  institution,  upon  what 
foundations  was  it  built,  what  materials  were  used  in  its 
construction,  what  forms  has  it  taken,  where  has  devel- 
opement  of  the  plan  to  subserve  one  end  led  the  build- 
ers to  depart  from  the  original  in  one  direction,  where 
in  another, — and  having  gathered  his  data  he  proceeds 
to  show  that  like  all  human  institutions  the  University 
is  not  the  untrammeled  developement  of  a  single  mental 
concept,  that  it  grew  as  time  and  place  demanded,  that 
it  adapted  itself  to  its  circumstances,  and  that  for  any 
one  special  form  to  claim  exclusive  right  to  the  name  is 
at  once  illogical  and  untrue. 

And  in  seeking  an  analogue  to  illustrate  his  posi- 
tion the  historian  finds  none  so  fitting  as  that  afforded 
by  the  buildings  in  which  the  University  has  chiefly 
found  its  homes.  The  Universities  of  Europe  are  to  us 
inseparably  connected  with  the  beautiful  Gothic  halls  in 
which  their  learned  men  have  lectured;  with  the  high  arch- 
ed libraries  in  which  are  stored  the  learning  of  the  ages; 
with  the  beautiful  chapels,  adorned  with  quaint  tracery 
and  strange  gargoyles,  dedicated  to  the  service  of  Him 
who  is  the  well-spring  of  all  wisdom.  These  beautiful 
expressions  of  the  builder's  skill  men  unite  in  calling  by 
the  name  of  Gothic  Architecture.  But  no  one  is  so  bold 
as  to  venture  a  definition  of  that  term.  It  is  easy  to  say 
that  it  is  an  art  which  mirrors  the  genius  of  the  races 
of  Western  Europe  who  built  their  lives  into  its  fabrics ; 


28  Inaugural  Address. 

that  it  lias  in  every  age  and  every  land  formulated  for  it- 
self rules  which  perpetuated  for  a  time  the  symetry  of 
the  proportions  already  attained  ;  that' again  and  again 
under  some  fresh  impulse  it  burst  its  too-strait  bands 
and  with  exuberant  life  realized  fresh  ideals  and  created 
new  forms.  But  to  speak  thus  is  but  to  confess  that  a 
brief  and  convenient  definition  is  unatainable,  to  aban- 
don as  hopeless  the  task  of  finding  some  scientific  nexus 
between  the  lancet  lights  that  look  out  upon  Oxford's 
"  studious  cloisters  pale"  and  the  lines  that  Lombard 
genius  traced  upon  Bologna's  stones.  It  is  to  proclaim 
that  we  must  be  content  with  facts — mere  crude  facts 
— however  beautiful — "  secreted  from  man's  life  when 
hearts  beat  hard,  and  brains,  high-blooded  gave  birth 
to  splendid  thoughts. 

The  word  Universitas,  whence  by  direct  adoption 
we  have  our  word  University,  did  not  at  first  signify  an 
institution  of  learning,  but  any  sort  of  corporation.  It 
was  equally  applicable  to  the  corporation  of  a  town,  to 
a  guild  of  merchants,  or  any  other  of  the  innumerable 
companies,  societies  and  institutions  which  were  granted 
privileges  and  possessed  a  corporate  or  quasi-corporate 
existence  under  the  law.  It  was  not  until  the  fourteenth 
century  that  the  institutions  of  learning  attained  such 
pre-eminence  as  to  become  the  Universilates  universi- 
latium,  henceforth  to  be  designated  simply  as  Universi- 
tales  without  the  addition  of  descriptive  words.  Pre- 
viously we  read  of  the  Universitas  magistrorun  et  dis- 
cipulorum  or  scholariiim — the  corporation  of  teachers  and 
scholars,  and  in  the  privileges  granted  and  the  terms 
used  to  describe  these  corporations  we  are  forced  to  rec- 
ognize products  of  the  time  and  soil. 

Without  forgetting  how  much  of  truth  there  is  in 
that  view  of  the  continuity  of  history  developed  with  so 
much  simple  power  by  Dr.  Arnold,  and  exploited  with 


Inaugural  Address.  29 

so  much  irascibility  by  Prof.  Freeman  ;  without  loosing 
sight  for  a  moment  of  that  philosophy  of  history,  which 
I  most  cordially'  adopt,  which  teaches  that  the  evolution 
of  society  is  but  the  development  of  the  eternal  counsels 
of  the  Creator;  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  hiatus 
between  the  schools  of  Antiquity  and  of  the  Middle 
Ages  is  complete.  The  flames  sank  upon  the  altars  of 
Athens,  Alexandria  and  Rome  :  paganism  became  effete. 
The  learning  of  the  schools  was  not  lost.  Plato  and 
Aristotle,  Galen  and  Gains,  survived  to  delight  and  in- 
struct many  generations  :  but  the  methods  of  teaching, 
the  manner  of  the  masters,  were  utterly  superceded. 
The  old  schools  in  the  old  hands  clung  to  the  old  learn- 
ing because  it  was  old,  because  in  an  age  of  flux  it  had 
the  claims  of  tradition  and  appeared  to  be  the  one  hope 
of  fixity.  The  new  learning  naturally  found  it  neces- 
sary to  have  schools  which  should  teach  its  wisdom. 
That  wisdom  as  yet  was  simple  and  single.  Its  only  text 
book  was  the  gospel,  its  teachers  were  the  priests,  its 
home  under  the  shadow  of  the  sacred  edifice. 

When  the  shock  of  barbarian  invasion  was  over 
the  Christian  schools  slowly  emerged  from  the  splendid 
civilization  which  had  been  overthrown.  As  time  went 
on,  as  the  barbarian  races  one  by  one  bent  their  victorious 
heads  to  receive  the  symbol  of  the  world  rule  of  the 
Prince  of  Peace,  the  schools  slowly  but  surely  developed. 
Two  types  at  length  became  notable.  The  Monastic 
schools  of  the  Benedictine  order,  of  which  Monte  Cas- 
sino  is  the  type;  and  the  episcopal  schools  such  as  those 
of  Seville  in  Spain,  of  Paris  in  France  and  of  York  in 
England.  The  one  type  trained  in  the  cloisters  of  their 
monasteries  the  novitiates  who  should  recruit  their 
order  ;  the  other  within  the  precincts  of  the  cathedral 
trained  those  who  were  destined  for  the  secular  clergy. 

The  teaching  in  these  schools  was  at  first  slight, 


30  Inaugural  Address. 

and  varied  little  the  one  from  the  other.  The  course 
was  divided  into  two  parts,  the  triviwn,  or  the  three 
branches  of  grammar,  rhetoric  and  logic  ;  and  the  quad- 
rivium,  or  four  branches  of  arithmetic,  geometry,  music 
and  astronomy.  These  seven  branches  were  known  as 
the  liberal  arts  ;  hence  the  name  applied  to  the  course 
to  this  day. 

He  who  had  completed  his  course  in  arts  was  re- 
quired to  show  his  capacity  by  presenting  and  publicly 
defending  a  thesis.  Upon  the  successful  accomplish- 
ment of  this  feat  he  was  licensed  to  teach  and  so  became 
a  Magister.  Down  to  a  comparatively  late  day  the  de- 
gree was  inseparable  from  the  idea  of  teaching  as  a  pro- 
fession. In  fine,  the  school  was  a  guild  of  teachers. 

The  regular  guild  organization  consisted  at  first  of 
masters  and  apprentices.  Gradually  an  intermediate 
grade  stepped  in  under  the  name  of  journeyman  in 
England,  of  garcon  in  France.  At  the  completion  of  a 
certain  period  of  service  the  apprentice  and  garcon  were 
required  to  offer  to  the  heads  of  the  corporation  a  piece 
of  work  in  proof  of  their  skill.  So  the  student  who 
had  passed  three  or  four  years  in  the  trivium  was  form- 
ally presented  before  the  faculty  and  became  a  bachelor 
of  arts  upon  being  approved  by  them.  Prof.  Laurie 
traces  the  derivation  of  the  word  to  baccalarius,  a  "  cow- 
boy ;"  a  name  which  seems  to  the  present  generation 
more  applicable  to  the  undergraduate  than  the  post 
graduate  student.  But  as  the  word  came  to  mean  gen- 
erally a  "  lad  "  the  analogy  with  the  term  garcon  is  very 
striking,  and  becomes  even  more  so  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  as  the  garcon  was  licensed  to  work  under  a 
master  so  the  bachelor  was  permitted  to  teach.  The 
master-piece  and  the  thesis  of  the  Masters  in  the  differ- 
ent departments  are  sufficiently  obvious  analogues. 

Nor  did  the  likeness  of  the  guild  stop  here.    It  was 


Inaugural  Address.  31 

customary  for  the  masters  in  every  guild  to  choose  out 
of  their  number  a  rector  to  preside  over  them,  and 
while  they  were  vested  with  high  privileges  in  the  way 
of  self  government  they  were  still  under  the  general 
law  of  the  land.  So  we  find  the  masters  in  the  Univer- 
sities choosing  from  their  number  a  rector,  while  over 
and  above  the  rector,  over  and  above  the  rectors,  as  the 
guild  divided  and  became  more  and  more  complex  in 
function  with  a  number  of  faculties  each  of  which  had 
its  own  rector  (or  dean),  was  the  Chancellor,  usually  the 
representative  of  the  Bishop  whose  diocesan  school  the 
University  was. 

But  there  were  hundreds  of  schools  scattered 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Europe.  What 
was  the  fact  which  differentiated  one  class  of  them  so 
completely  from  their  fellows  that  while  the  few  grew 
and  rose  steadily  till  they  engrossed  the  name  of  Uni- 
versity, the  many  sank  back  into  mere  schools  of  the 
modern  type  ?  How  did  it  happen  that  the  great  mon- 
astic schools  of  Bee  (which  gave  to  England  two  of  her 
greatest  Archbishops,  L,anfranc  and  Anselm),  and  St, 
Martin  of  Tours,  remained  simple  monastic  schools, 
while  Paris  and  Louvain  rose  to  the  highest  grade  of 
the  true  University  ?  that  the  monastic  school  of  Monte 
Cassino  developed  into  the  University  of  Salernum, 
while  the  cathedral  school  of  Milan  remained  but  a 
school  ?  that  the  Archiepiscopal  school  of  York,  the 
Lamp  of  the  North,  which  had  lighted  the  darkness  of 
Anglo-Saxon  England  and  sped  a  revival  of  letters 
through  the  north  of  Europe  sending  the  illustrious  Al- 
cuin  to  be  the  chief  intellectual  adornment  of  the  Court 
of  Karl  the  Great, — remained  but  an  episcopal  school 
while  the  once  feeble  school  of  Oxford,  afar  from  its 
Cathedral's  fostering  care  became  nevertheless  the  uGlory 
of  Merrie  England,"  the  friend  of  letters,  the  mother  of 


32  Inaugural  Address. 

reformers,  the  nurse  of  the  truth  ?  We  need  not  pause 
to  trace  the  particular  cause  or  causes  in  each  particu- 
lar case  ;  it  will  suffice  to  say  that  the  presence  or  ab- 
sence of  what  we  may  call  the  University  spirit  was  the 
controlling  cause. 

In  the  twelfth  century  began  the  movement  which 
turned  the  world  upside  down.  The  spirit  of  feudalism 
knew  but  two  sources  of  power,  land  and  the  sword. 
The  old  civilization  which  had  been  overturned  but  not 
destroyed  had  one  master  thought,  the  State.  The 
heart  of  the  great  Germanic  people  had  written  upon  it 
one  inerasible  sentence  :  "Each  individual  is  responsi- 
ble for  himself."  How  were  these  principles  of  arm 
and  head  and  heart  ever  to  be  reconciled.  The  First, 
tended  to  a  landed  aristocracy  depending  upon  the 
strong  arm  ;  the  Second,  to  a  highly  organized  central 
power  resting  upon  law  ;  the  Third,  towards  the  high- 
est freedom  of  the  individual,  even  to  Democracy.  It 
was  not  long  till  it  became  evident  that  the  first  was  the 
temporary  element  and  that  law  and  liberty  were  the 
permanent  elements  :  the  two  elements  out  of  which 
Rome  and  her  conquerors  were  to  unite  to  build  a  new 
world  and  a  higher  civilization.  And  it  was  in  the  land 
of  letters  that  the  two  were  to  coalesce. 

The  impulse  of  which  I  have  spoken  was  a  world 
impulse.  Every  land  and  every  people  ;  aye,  every 
condition  of  society  was  to  feel  its.  influence.  It  was 
various  in  its  manifestation,  but  always  light  warring 
against  the  power  of  darkness,  reason  against  unreason. 
The  villein  and  the  surf  put  off  the  yoke  and  became 
freeman  ;  men  who  were  free  in  name  banded  them- 
selves together  and  became  free  in  fact,  despite  the  op- 
position of  an  insolent  baronage  and  the  resistance  of 
kings,  who  loved  the  semblance  rather  than  the  sub- 
stance of  power  :  kings  curbed  the  loose  lives  and  ra- 


Inaugural  Address.  33 

pacious  greed  of  their  liegemen  ;  the  nobles  taught 
their  overlords  the  difference  between  prerogative  and 
tyranny;  the  Church  rebuilt  her  altars  and  restored  her 
temples  and  shone  for  a  time  in  the  benignant  light  of 
her  world  ambition,  the  shepherd  of  the  people,  the  reg- 
ulator of  rulers,  the  dispenser  of  power,  the  spouse  of 
the  Lord  whose  sole  service  was  the  glory  of  her  master. 
In  every  land  Liberty  loosed  the  shackles  of  the  op- 
pressed, Law  brought  the  sons  of  chaos  under  her  re- 
gimen, Truth  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  and  Learn- 
ing trimmed  her  lamp  to  lead  men  through  the  still  dark 
and  devious  paths.  The  impulses  which  brought  on  this 
movement  were  both  external  and  internal.  Perhaps  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  the  great  impulse  was  internal  and 
nothing  less  than  the  inherent  necessity  of  action  which 
dominates  the  character  of  every  true  man.  The  world 
.sank  down  exhausted  after  the  conflicts  which  over- 
turned the  old  order  of  things.  Slowly  but  surely  fer- 
mentation went  on  in  the  mass  of  humanity.  Men  like 
Charlemagne  and  Otto  the  Great,  and  Otto  III,  Mir  a- 
bills  Mundi,  arose  to  show  that  the  heart  of  man  had 
not  ceased  to  expand  with  high  and  noble  ideas. 

Such  men  found  the  world  unable  to  respond  to 
their  call,  unable  to  rise  to  their  ideals.  A  few  kindred 
spirits  they  discovered,  mostly  priests  and  monks  living 
in  the  scholastic  seclusion  of  their  Universities  and  mon- 
asteries. In  these  men  devoted  to  a  service  not  of  this 
world  they  found  all  that  was  known  of  the  old  learn- 
ing, of  the  splendid  fabric  of  Roman  Jurisprudence,  of 
the  lost  administrative  art.  Calling  them  to  their  aid 
they  made  them  their  secretaries,  justiciars,  chancellors, 
ministers.  The  church  through  the  schools  became 
mistress  of  the  governmental  machinery  of  Europe. 
The  elevation  of  their  sons  brought  new  honor  and  in- 
creased privileges  to  the  schools. 


34  Inaugural  Address. 

The  church  too  found  her  schools  reacting-  on  her- 
self. The  world  as  it  awoke  asked  more  of  its  ministers- 
of  truth.  Vulgar  miracles  no  longer  sufficed  for  prince 
and  people  alike.  The  higher  truths  of  theology  were 
now  demanded.  Not  that  men  were  yet  ready  for  the 
full  simplicity  of  truth.  Stimulated  by  the  sharp  dis- 
tinctions and  broad  generalization  of  the  civil  law,  men 
were  yet  intoxicated  by  the  vanity  of  conscious  super- 
iority of  knowledge.  Sublety  and  casuistry  took  the 
place  of  simplicity :  the  form  rather  than  the  substance 
of  the  Civil  law  passed  into  the  church's  service  in  the 
Canon  law,  and  while  it  took  root  and  grew,  some  were 
true  to  the  higher  service.  Thus  theologic  teaching 
wavered  from  truth  to  triviality. 

These  three  branches,  the  Civil,  and  the  Canon  Laws, 
and  Theology,  are  those  which  most  occupied  in  this 
period  of  awakening  the  attention  of  the  Magistri^  the 
teachers  in  the  Universities.  It  was  sometime  before 
any  of  these  subjects  became  a  part  of  the  regular  in- 
struction. Indeed,  before  they  were  lectured  on  in  any 
University,  under  the  influence  of  an  external  impulse 
received  from  the  Saracens,  a  school  of  Medicine  sprang 
up  at  Monte  Cassino,  giving  to  that  school  the  priority 
as  the  first  to  yield  to  the  spirit  of  expansion  and  spec- 
ialization. In  a  short  time  the  new  order  of  things  is 
well  illustrated  by  the  schools  of  Salernum,  Bologna  and 
Paris — the  homes  of  medicine,  law  and  theology.  For 
a  long  period  these  three  great  schools  had  no  other  fac- 
ulties outside  of  the  faculty  of  Arts,  than  those  of  their 
specialty.  The  faculties  had  been  established  because 
there  was  a  demand  for  them.  No  sooner  were  they  es- 
tablished than  aspiring  young  men  flocked  to  their  lec- 
tures. We  wonder  at,  we  even  grow  extremely  skepti- 
cal about,  the  numbers  which  are  said  to  have  attended 
these  schools.  But  were  the  scholars  in  Paris  five  or 


Inaugural  Address.  35 

thirty  thousand  in  this  epoch,  they  were  many,  they 
thronged  the  town,  the  hostels  overflowed,  the  lecturers 
knew  not  how  to  reach  them  with  the  waters  for  which 
they  thirsted.  What  a  change  from  the  scene  where  in 
some  little  building  connected  with  the  cathedral  or 
monastery  the  youth  in  little  groups  gathered  without 
books  to  write  down  upon  their  waxen  tablets  at  the  dic- 
tation of  their  masters  the  elements  of  grammar  and 
rhetoric.  Nor  was  the  change  only  apparent.  On  the 
one  hand  a  real  thirst  for  knowledge  had  sprung  up,  oil 
the  other  the  demand  had  produced  men  capable  of  re- 
sponding to  it,  men  like  Irnerius  at  Bologna,  Abelard  at 
Paris,  Gerald  at  Oxford,  to  whom  the  students  eagerly 
flocked.  The  change  in  fact,  induced  a  change  in  name: 
the  schools  which  had  leaped  into  renewed  life  at  the 
touch  of  their  wizards'  wand  became  known  as  Studia 
Gcneralia*  It  is  almost  as  hard  to  define  the  Studium 
Generate  as  the  University.  It  was  certainly  from  the 
first  a  free  school,  open  to  students  from  all  the  world, 
it  was  not  at  first  characterized— as  it  afterwards  came 
to  be,  by  general  instruction  in  all  departments,  nor  was 
it  organized  at  first  into  nations,  each  with  its  rector  or 
dean.  The  four  so  called  indispensable  faculties  of  arts, 
law,  medicine  and  theology  were  long  not  to  be  found 
in  any :  the  organization  of  students  into  nations  was  a 
comparatively  late  device  for  the  better  government  of 
the  disorderly  throng  of  students  from  many  and  often 
hostile  countries. 

If  we  look  closely  we  may  reduce  the  essentials  of 
the  Studium  Generate  once  more  to  the  University  spirit. 
In  the  first  phase  it  was  merely  an  eager  reaching  forth 
towards  learning.  It  was  found  in  purely  art  schools. 
Now  it  has  advanced  and  we  find  it  concerned  with  spec- 
ial studies  looking  definitively  to  the  professions — the 
three  professions  of  law,  medicine  and  theology. 


36  Inaugural  Address. 

Almost  at  once  a  further  step  was  taken.  We  havt 
seen  that  the  Universitas^as  built  upon  the  guild  basis 
which  wras  essentially  one  of  independence  and  self- 
government,  or  broadly  stated  of  privilege  ;  the  old 
writers  agree  that  high  and  special  privileges  are  among 
the  indispensable  indicia  of  the  Universitas.  The  Stu- 
dium  Generate  declared  its  freedom  at  an  early  day.  It 
was  assertively  secular.  It  even  maintained  for  many 
centuries  a  non  local  character.  The  University  at 
Bologna  once  emigrated  to  Vicenza,  when  its  privileges 
were  not  respected.  Paris  emigrated ;  mainly  to  Oxford; 
Oxford  emigrated  to  Stamford  and  so  on.  They  faith- 
fully maintained  that  truth  was  free,  and  that  the 
knowledge  and  teaching  of  it  should  be  free  also. 
Wherever  these  privileges  were  not  faithfully  main- 
tained the  spirit  died  out  and  the  school  sank  back  into 
a  local  and  narrow  sphere.  To  those  which  maintained 
their  lofty  character  the  successive  years  brought  fresh 
grants  of  privileges.  The  revival  of  letters  broadened 
their  scope  and  with  increased  knowledge  came  augmen- 
tation of  power.  Universities  now  no  longer  grew  by 
years  of  painful  contest  with  the  forces  of  darkness, 
but  sprang  full  grown  from  the  brain  of  the  State. 
Kings  finding  the  old  institutions  the  brightest  jewels  in 
their  crowns,  founded  others  and  endowed  them  with 
splendid  gifts.  Other  monarchs  viewing  with  envy 
these  adornments  of  other  realms  which  their  own  did 
not  possess  created  Universities  that  their  subjects 
might  not  go  abroad  to  slake  the  now  universal  thirst 
and  that  they  themselves  might  enjoy  the  honor  and 
consideration  which  these  republics  of  letters  reflected 
upon  princes. 

When  we  have  reached  this  period  the  University 
idea  has  crystallized  into  a  conception  which  may  be 
defined  as  an  institution  of  learning  enjoying  the  right 


Inaugural  Address.  37 

of  self  government  and  other  high  privileges  from  the 
state,  open  to  all  the  world,  instructing  in  all  branches 
of  learning  by  means  of  four  faculties,  that  of  arts  be- 
ing general  and  fundamental  and  its  degrees  essential  to 
the  pursuit  of  studies  in  any  of  the  others.  It  is  per- 
haps needless  to  remark  that  probably  no  institution  at 
any  one  time  fulfilled  all  these  conditions.  Some  found 
their  affairs  intermeddled  with  by  the  State,  some  pro- 
posed religious  tests,  some  wanted  one  faculty  and  some 
another,  some  did  not  require  degrees  in  arts  for  the 
pursuit  of  the  studies  in  other  faculties.  But  in  all  the 
true  essence  is  to  be  discerned,  the  spirit  of  the  Univer- 
sity. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  the  course  of  the 
present  century  a  new  idea  has  taken  root  in  our  Uni- 
versities, an  idea  which  though  new  in  form  is  in  es- 
sence a  return  to  the  oldest  type.  This  idea  is  based  on 
the  development  of  courses  subsequent  to  the  course 
leading  to  the  bachelor's  degree,  marked  by  several  years 
of  University  residence  in  the  pursuit  of  some  special 
non-professional  department  of  learning,  largely  with  a 
view  to  teaching  or  the  filling  of  some  post  for  which 
special  training  of  this  character  is  demanded.  The 
degree  of  Doctor,  once  used  interchangeably  with  that 
of  Master  and  Licentiate  in  our  English  Universities 
has  been  imported  from  the  continent  of  Europe  to 
mark  this  course.  It  is  as  perfect  an  analogue  as  possi- 
ble of  the  old  English  degree  of  master  after  the  intro- 
duction of  the  rule  which  permitted  the  masters  to  teach 
or  not  to  teach  at  their  election.  The  magistri  non  re- 
gentes  of  Oxford  exactly  correspond  to  our  modern  Doc- 
tors of  Philosophy  and  Doctors  of  Science  in  the  char- 
acter of  their  course  and  the  requisites  of  attaining  the 
degree. 

In  this  too  I  may  be  pardoned  for  seeing  a  man  ifes- 


38  Inaugural  Address. 

tation  of  the  University  Spirit.  The  dishonor  into 
which  all  degrees  have  fallen  by  the  abuse  of  them  ; 
the  constant  conferring  of  degrees  in  absentia  without 
any  proper  inquiry  as  to  whether  any  work  has  actually 
been  done  or  not ;  especially  the  reckless  distribution  of 
the  degree  of  master  of  arts ;  has  brought  the  old  de- 
grees into  contempt.  The  University  if  it  has  the  spirit 
of  truth  would  fain  have  all  who  bear  her  name  bear 
also  some  part  of  her  nature,  and  would  confer  no 
empty  honor  on  any  man. 

And  this  leads  me  at  once  to  consider  the  function 
of  the  University.  Surely  of  that  there  can  be  little 
doubt.  It  is  to  teach  all  learning  in  the  most  liberal 
spirit.  Human  endeavors  never  rise  to  the  height  of 
human  aspirations.  What  University  can  hope  to  in- 
struct in  all  knowledge?  None  assuredly.  And  yet 
what  brave  heart  ever  gave  over  a  task  merely  because 
it  was  unattainable?  How  is  this  problem  to  be  ap- 
proached? Let  the  history  of  University  development 
supply  the  answer.  By  doing  well  whatever  is  done, 
by  emulously  stretching  forward  to  the  fuller  develop- 
ment of  the  course.  Some  have  thought  it  wise — find- 
ing the  whole  task  too  much  for  their  strength,  to  limit 
themselves  by  limiting  the  liberality  of  spirit,  as  if  men 
grew  stronger  by  placing  shackles  upon  their  limbs. 
Others,  more  truly  wise,  have  recognized  at  various 
times  a  special  need  for  various  branches  of  learning 
and  have  established  schools  for  the  purpose  of  supply- 
ing the  want.  But  when  those  schools  have  burst  the 
swaddling  bands  of  youth  and  pressed  on  to  the  goal 
with  swift  and  certain  feet  they  have  lamented  this.  If 
the  institutions  still  sought  truth  and  still  subserved 
the  cause  of  sound  learning  they  would  have  been  truer 
to  their  early  wisdom,  if  they  had  rejoiced  that  their 
influence  was  widened. 


Inaugural  Address.  39 

On  the  other  hand  nothing  is  more  distinctly  taught 
by  history  than  the  folly  of  attempting  too  much.  The 
Universitas  which  only  possessed  the  original  art  school 
when  more  fortunate  fellows  imparted  instruction  to 
thronging  thousands  in  every  department  of  knowledge 
might  have  been  left  behind  in  the  race,  but  if  it  did, 
what  it  did,  well,  it  was  fulfilling  its  destiny  and  de- 
served no  man's  contempt.  The  too  eager  school,  on 
the  other  hand,  which  assumed  faculties  it  could  not 
support  was  false  to  its  function  and  but  deserved  to  die 
and  be  forgotten. 

There  is  no  more  splendid  conception  than  this  of 
a  highly  developed  and  fully  organized  institution  of 
learning.  It  must  in  its  very  nature  be  free,  every 
branch  of  learning  must  stand  upon  an  equal  footing, 
every  man  who  comes  within  its  sacred  precincts  must 
be  partaker  of  its  liberties,  master  and  student  must  be 
influenced  by  a  common  love  of  wisdom,  between  them 
there  should  exist  a  bond  of  brotherhood.  It  should 
freely  defy  kings  when  assailed  in  its  privileges  and  as- 
sert truth  against  authority.  But  let  us  well  remember 
that  liberty  is  not  license,  that  freedom  is  not  the  foe, 
but  the  spouse  of  law.  That  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the 
beginning  of  wisdom  and  the  service  of  our  God  the 
sum  of  all  knowledge.  Liberty  does  not  imply  that 
there  should  be  license  to  teach  that  science  fasely  so 
called  that  is  at  war  with  truth  and  is  the  nursing 
mother  of  anarchy.  Republics  are  governed  by  laws 
not  less  stringent  than  those  of  absolute  monarchies, 
supported  by  a  sanction  not  less  perfect  than  that  which 
gives  effect  to  the  edicts  of  the  white  Czar.  Nor  does 
a  man  become  any  less  fallible  because  he  has  entered 
the  portals  of  the  house  where  freedom  dwells  and  truth 
is  served  and  wisdom  is  open  to  all.  The  privileges  of 
citizenship  in  this  commonwealth  should  be  granted  to 


4-O  Inaugural  Address. 

those  only  who  are  worthy;  none  should  be  permitted 
to  retain  them  who  drag  them  in  the  mire.  But  within 
its  boundaries  there  should  be  no  eye  service,  no  party 
conflict,  no  private  contention,  no  personal  criticism  ; 
but  only  faithful  service  and  studious  endeavors  to  serve 
the  republic. 

Such  in  brief  outline  is  the  conception  which  I 
have  formed  of  the  nature  and  function  of  the  Univer- 
sity. I  might  add  to  the  account  both  of  its  nature  and 
its  function  Mark  Pattison's  happy  phraze,  and  claim 
that  it  should  be  the  "organ  of  the  intellectual  life  of 
the  Nation."  But  our  land  is  too  wide  for  any  one  Uni- 
versity to  fill  so  large  a  sphere ;  though  doubtless  this 
character  should  appertain  to  the  summation  of  all  our 
Universities.  I  should  be  more  tempted  to  begin,  and 
end,  with  his  further  definition  of  the  University  as 
"the  school  of  learning,  the  nursery  of  the  liberal  arts, 
the  academy  of  the  sciences,  the  home  of  letters,  the 
retreat  of  the  studious  and  the  contemplative,"  but 
however  true,  however  suggestive,  such  a  definition  is, 
it  is  too  vague  to  be  a  lamp  to  our  feet.  Cardinal 
Newman  in  his  brilliant  essay  on  "The  Rise  and  Pro- 
gress of  Universities"  shrinks  from  too  concise  a  defini- 
tion and  contents  himself  with  a  description  composed 
of  a  series  of  glowing  terms  thrown  together  in  rich 
confusion,  declaring  that  a  University  "is  this  and  a 
great  deal  more,  and  demands  a  somewhat  better  head 
and  hand  than  mine  to  describe  it  well."  The  better 
head  and  hand  is  a  thing  not  to  be  realized.  But  the 
task  before  us  is  a  sober  one,  for  which  rhetoric  and 
striking  generalizations  however  eloquent,  will  not  avail. 
I  shall,  therefore,  strive  to  indicate  with  as  much  defl- 
niteness  as  possible  the  manner  in  which  I  conceive 
the  ideas  already  advanced  can  be  best  applied  in  our 
immediate  province. 


Inaugural  Address.  41 

Out  of  a  true  love  for  learning  those  sturdy  men 
who  built  for  themselves  a  home  and  established  a  free 
government  in  the  wilderness  erected  here  a  beginning 
of  such  an  institution  as  that  which  we  have  been  con- 
sidering. At  first  the  labor  of  their  hands  wrought  out 
but  a  pioneer  school  house,  then  came,  after  a  period  of 
years,  a  fuller  and  a  higher  school  with  a  broader  foun- 
dation and  a  truer  spirit  of  learning.  To  this  beginning 
they  gave  the  name  this  institution  continues  to  bear,  a 
name  which  tells  us  that  it  was  the  child  of  their  hopes, 
and  that  they  saw  against  the  skies  of  a  far  future  day 
the  towers  and  domes  of  stately  halls  gleaming  in  the 
noontide  of  prosperity.  The  noble  men  of  old  built 
their  lives  into  her  fabric  and  left  the  task  to  later  years 
and  other  generations  to  carry  it  on  to  completion.  To- 
day we  behold  a  more  fully  equipped  and  highly  spec- 
ialized school  than  has  ever  existed  here.  To-day  we 
hope  the  signs  are  favorable  for  the  return  of  that  spirit 
which  made  this  thirty  years  ago  a  truer  University 
than  we  can  say  it  is  to-day.  For,  as  we  have  seen,  no 
congregation  of  learned  men,  no  collection  of  stately 
buildings,  no  splendid  endowments  and  privileges,  no 
patronage  of  letters,  can  make  a  University.  You  may 
bring  all  these  things  together  and  yet  have  but  a  soul- 
less body.  What  must  be  done  to  breathe  into  such  a 
frame  the  breath  of  life — the  University  Spirit  ?  We 
must  have  students,  young  men  eager  and  anxious  to 
drink  of  her  sweet  waters  ;  young  men  animated  by  the 
pure  desire  of  learning  for  its  own  sake.  Without  such 
students  a  school  is  possible.  Without  such  students 
the  stern  rule  of  authority  may  secure  prefunctory  at- 
tendance upon  the  daily  exercises,  may  extract  from  un- 
willing minds  a  poor  modicum  of  the  precious  truth 
poured  forth  to  them  in  lectures  and  dictata.  But  with- 
out them  a  University  is  impossible.  They  make  the 


42  Inaugural  Address. 

demand,  the  faculty  must  afford  the  supply.  If  there  is 
no  demand  the  supply  should  not  be  expected  to  flow 
even  out  of  the  utmost  abundance.  He  who  will  take 
not  need  not  expect  to  be  filled.  Who  is  so  unwise  as 
to  pour  precious  ointment  into  broken  vessels?  Let  me 
not  be  misconstrued  into  a  seeming  criticism  upon  the 
young  men  whom  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  assist  in  in- 
structing during  the  year  which  closes  to-day.  I  have 
found  a  real  delight  in  teaching  some  of  them,  and  were 
they  one  and  all  animated  by  the  spirit  of  which  I 
speak  their  youth  and  opportunities  would  preclude 
them  from  supplying  that  demand  in  its  fulness,  even 
aside  from  the  fact  that  they  are  not  numerous  enough 
to  fulfill  the  first  condition  of  demand.  But  as  I  turn 
my  eyes  on  to  the  future  I  hope  that  I  discern  the 
promise  of  a  development  of  such  a  demand.  Without 
it  we  cannot  hope  to  flourish  ;  with  it  I  dare  express  a 
confidence  that  Miami  University  will  regain  her  old- 
time  honor.  When  I  remember  that  in  the  old  days 
men  were  gathered  by  the  magic  of  a  single  voice  to  the 
academic  halls  of  this  or  that  institution;  that  in  a  dozen 
or  score  of  years  institutions  were  raised  out  of  obscur- 
ity into  prominence  by  the  learning  or  skill  in  disputa- 
tion of  some  one  who  held  its  principal  chair  ;  and  that 
in  the  common  view  of  this  new  world  he  who  occupies 
the  post  to  which  you  have  called  me  is  expected  by 
qualities  of  one  kind  or  another  to  fill  the  place  such 
men  have  crowned  with  the  fruits  of  their  lives  ;  I  am 
filled  with  a  sense  of  insufficiency.  To  even  hope  all 
that  a  man  dare  hope  in  such  circumstances,  seems  the 
acme  of  human  vanity.  But  the  day  is  passed  for  hesi- 
tancy, the  day  for  a  pretentious  humility  never  comes 
to  a  true  man.  I  have  assumed  the  task  :  I  have  done 
the  utmost  in  my  power  the  year  that  is  past,  the  con- 
ditions of  the  problem  before  me  I  have  found  intensely 


Inaugural  Address.  43 

difficult,  but  by  no  means  impossible  of  realization.  If 
they  are  to  be  fulfilled  the  utmost  cordiality  in  all  our 
relations,  your  prompt  assistance  in  certain  departments 
of  our  common  work,  and  time,  are  essential.'  That 
these  things  will  be  readily  conceded  in  the  future  as  in 
the  past  I  have  no  doubt.  In  the  faculty  which  you 
have  summoned  to  my  assistance  I  have  found  learning 
which  has  commanded  my  admiration,  earnestness  of 
spirit  which  has  inspired  me  with  hope,  manly  frank- 
ness which  has  won  my  confidence.  It  perhaps  does 
not  concern  you  especially,  but  I  may  be  pardoned  for 
adding  that  while  the  President  of  the  University  hon- 
ors and  esteems  them  one  and  all  as  his  trusted  counse- 
lors and  faithful  coadjutors,  that  I  find  no  little  pleas- 
ure in  feeling  that  the  official  tie  is  strengthed  by  a  per- 
sonal one  only  less  close.  Knowing  them  as  I  know 
them  to-day,  I  feel  no  little  confidence  in  promising  that 
the  genius  of  sound  learning  and  the  spirit  of  freedom 
will  be  found  in  these  halls.  The  arts  are  not  less 
sisters  that  they  are  become  more  than  seven.  The  older 
sisters  gladly  concede  their  younger  sisters  places  at 
their  side.  The  old  lines  have  been  lost  and  forgotten. 
Philosophy,  Science,  Literature  and  History  afford  us 
innumerable  branches  for  our  teaching  ;  from  these  it 
will  be  our  task  to  select,  first,  those  the  value  of  which 
is  chiefly  disciplinary,  and  secondly,  those  which  will 
give  love  of  learning  and  breadth  of  vision  to  the 
novice.  Naturally  the  hill  must  be  climbed  before  the 
splendid  prospect  which  its  summit  affords  can  gladden 
the  eyes.  And  if  the  muscles  are  not  made  strong  by 
daily  exercise  the  summit  will  never  be  reached.  Upon 
that  summit  Wisdom  hath  builded  her  house  and  hewn 
out  its  seven  pillars  ;  and  the  highroad  of  Knowledge 
which  leads  to  it  is  straight.  There  are  no  short  cuts. 
He  who  seeks  them,  but  finds  that  he  has  wandered 


44  Inaugural  Address. 

from  the  way.  Those  who  wander  return  at  best  with 
great  difficulty.  The  most  are  lost.  It  shall  be  my  pur- 
pose, therefore,  while  holding  all  branches  of  learning 
in  honor,  to  specially  foster  and  encourage  devotion  to 
those  which  the  matured  experience  of  centuries  have 
approved  as  of  value  for  the  training  and  development  of 
the  human  mind,  together  with  such  of  the  more  re- 
cently developed  departments  of  learning,  whether  sci- 
entific or  philosophical,  as  have  proved  of  special  value 
either  as  discipline  or  as  introducing  the  mind  to  wide 
and  lofty  fields  of  thought.  The  merely  useful,  the 
pleasant,  but  easily  acquired,  the  purely  ornate,  branches 
seem  to  me  out  of  place  in  an  institution  such  as  this 
is  at  present. 

In  these  halls  so  long  as  I  continue  to  preside  over 
them  there  shall  be  no  narrow  or  illiberal  spirit  con- 
sciously fostered.  In  the  words  of  another  uwe  do  not 
mean  to  extinguish  the  torch  of  science  that  we  may  sit 
in  religious  moonlight,  and  we  do  not  intend  to  send 
our  religion  up  to  the  biological  laboratory  for  examina- 
tion and  approval.  We  shall  not  be  afraid  to  open  our 
eyes  in  the  presence  of  Nature,  nor  ashamed  to  close 
them  in  the  presence  of  God.  " 

And  now,  Gentlemen,  the  task  which  I  proposed 
for  myself  is  completed.  I  have  endeavored  to  state 
briefly  the  general  view  which  I  hold  of  such  a  position 
as  that  to  which  you  have  called  me.  I  shall -not  seek 
to  press  too  far  or  too  fast  to  the  goal.  If  Miami  is  to 
remain  a  small  college  I  only  hope  that  she  will  be 
among  the  best  of  small  colleges,  doing  well  all  that  she 
does.  If  her  destiny  is  a  higher  one,  if  she  shall  stretch 
forward  to  the  position  which  her  old-world  sisters  have 
won,  climbing  each  step  with  firm  tread,  then  God 
speed  her  on  her  way.  Let  her  future  be  what  it  may, 


Inaugural  Address.  45 

I  trust  every  man  connected-  with  her  will  do  manfully 
his  duty.  The  event  is  with  Him  "who  doeth  accord- 
ing to  His  pleasure  in  the  army  of  heaven  and  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  "  For  my  part  I  have  re- 
ceived at  your  hand  the  keys  of  these  halls,  and  have 
registered  a  solemn  oath  to  be  faithful  to  the  trust  com- 
mitted to  my  charge.  May  God  give  me  strength  to 
keep  that  oath,  and  do  you  pray  His  blessing  upon  this 
ancient  institution,  that  it  may  renew  its  youth,  and  send 
forth  many  sons  as  worthy  as  those  of  old,  who  shall  serve 
as  faithfully  their  country  and  their  God. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


230ct'51LU 


LD  21-95m-ll,'50(2877sl6)476 


